Psalm 31 Commentary by Dr Noel Donnelly.
Our weekend liturgy for 6th Sunday in Year B contains 5 of the 11 verses of the complete psalm. These summarise the message of joy that sins have actually been forgiven. It starts with a a double Beatitude: “Blessed or Happy are those who are forgiven! Blessed is the person who is now free from cunning duplicity!”
The psalm appeals to the whole community to rejoice in this wonderful experience of freedom. The psalmist really feels the breathtaking miracle of God’s forgiveness! He realises that grace involved, that free unmerited gift of God’s love. But first there is a very clear confessing of one’s sin. Verse 3 says the psalmist has “kept silent”; for too long he has kept bottled up inside him the feelings of guilt. “But now I have not hidden my sin inside me” he says in verse 5. And now this happy experience of release must be shared. Indeed, the wider community is to rejoice with the forgiven sinner. “Now thank we all our God”, we sing in the well-known hymn. We thank publicly because we are “ransomed, healed, restored and forgiven !”
The psalmist cries out to the community because he or she wants everyone to know that, what God has done to him, God can do to anyone! The psalmist cries out through this psalm, “Come on everybody, confess and then ring out your joy since we have a God who amazingly not only forgives but loves to forgive.” The psalmist also wants the hearers to realise that forgiveness now is not an end in itself but an experience for educating others: “I will instruct and teach you the way you should go” he says in verse 8. “Everyone must learn that there’s a way past being stubborn in sin, resisting like an unintelligent horse or mule, needing a bridle and bit” says verse 9.
In his last illness St Augustine had this psalm to be written on the wall in front of his bed. With him may we never forget the joy of being forgiven and when our time comes to die may we too die happy!
But what can I do now, seeing that I have been at the receiving end and received God’s loving forgiveness? Surely, being a forgiving person in my turn? Now where do I start?
setting: words (c) The Grail, England. Music (c) St Mungo Music. Recorded by Grace Buckley
Psalm 31 MEL n editing – Full Score
Psalm 31 nd editing – Full Score
audio:
